A HARDSTANDING area made by residents on Kempsey Common will have to go, despite their protest that they have improved the area around their property.

Kempsey Parish Council, which owns the common, wrote to the occupiers of Woodbine Cottage last month, asking them to remove the 20yd by 10yd hardstanding area, for which they had not sought permission.

The council pointed out that access to the cottage is by a single track, that no hardstanding is permitted on common land and that vehicles must be parked within the boundaries of the cottage and not on the common.

In their reply, the residents said they had improved the area and hoped the hardstanding would be allowed to stay, as they had only laid a top layer of stone, through which grass would have grown by next year.

"We have always taken the view that people should be able to get to and from their properties, but we don't encourage parking or permit any works on common land," said the chairman, Joy Clee.